- Serena Leave a comment

a litha change-making ritual

the modern witch's guide to litha

Hi friends! Litha is this week, hooray! This Sabbat is one of my favorites, because it seems like everything is lighthearted and happy and celebratory.

Of course, the Lavender + Lupine School of Magick has come out with a course all about Litha to help you celebrate it right! It’s only $15, so click here to check it out! 

Below is an excerpt of what you’ll find in the course – a little Litha ritual to help prepare you for the darker months ahead.

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Midsummer marks the longest day of sunlight before the slow advance of winter. It’s a great time for many kinds of rituals: love, manifestation, abundance, protection. This ritual will focus on stoking your inner fire and finding your strength for the dark months ahead.

You will need:

  • A mirror (preferably one that can stand on its own, if not you’ll have to prop it up or hold it)
  • Paper
  • A pen
  • A match or lighter
  • A candle
  • A flameproof dish
  1. Do any pre-ritual cleansing that appeals to you (or none at all if that’s your thing.) Sit down in a dark, quiet area. It shouldn’t be pitch black, but there should be no lights on except the candle you’re about to light. If you’d like, meditate for a few moments to prepare yourself.
  2. Light your candle and place it and your mirror in front of you. Stare deeply into your own eyes. Think about the qualities about yourself you’d like to change – not physical qualities, but things like bad habits or behaviors you know are problematic and you’re ready for them to stop. Some examples: negative self-talk, selfishness in your relationship, distancing yourself from loved ones, biting your nails… the list goes on.
  3. Take a moment to write these things down on your paper. Get messy with this – channel all of your feelings about these behaviors into your piece of paper. Scribble, rip, smear, do whatever you need to do in order to let it all out.
  4. Tear the paper up and put the pieces into your flameproof bowl.
  5. Pick up your match or lighter and light the paper pieces on fire. As you do so, say aloud, “A change begins now and it begins with me.”
  6. As the paper burns, stare deeply into your mirror once more. This time, you’re going to make a promise to yourself. Making eye contact with your reflection, think about what you wrote on the paper and tell yourself how it will be different. For example, “Where I have been cruel, I will be kind. Where I have been weak, I will be strong. Where I have been careless, I will be thorough.” Repeat these words over and over again until the flames have burned out.
  7. If you’d like, you can close your ritual with a statement like “As I will, so mote it be” or an equivalent. Extinguish your candle and dispose of the ashes as you see fit.

If you like this little ritual, you’ll love our Litha course, where you’ll learn how to make an outdoor offering bowl, a Litha diffuser blend, some delicious summer recipes, and the history behind Midsummer itself! Click here to check it out! <3

- Serena 4 Comments

3 little ways to celebrate litha

3 little ways to celebrate litha

Hello my friends! I survived my family vacation to North Carolina and it feels SO good to be back. I love chilling at the beach as much as the next witch, but I’m also a mega homebody who loves her cat. So now that I’m rested and recharged, I’m coming at you today with a blog post all about one of my favorite Sabbats, Litha!

Litha, also known as Midsummer, is a celebration of the summer solstice. This year most witches seem to be celebrating it today, the 20th, but I tend to be a little less strict about it because I’m  busy gal who’s gotta celebrate when I can. I’m keeping it low-key today but going all-out tomorrow with a special dinner!

Litha itself is the longest day of the year, so think of this as one last hurrah before the days start getting shorter and shorter. I feel like this is a win-win for me because as much as I love the sun being out till 9 pm, I’m a fall baby through and through and it is ON ITS WAY. (Yes, I’m one of those. Already dreaming of Pumpkin Spice everything TBH.)

When I think of Litha, I think of faeries frolicking through sunny fields and dancing around bonfires. It’s all about joy and light. If you’re looking for some last-minute ways to celebrate, here are 3 things I like to do to celebrate Litha!

3 little ways to celebrate litha

make a flower crown

Maybe this is basic but whatever, okay? You can’t deny that flower crowns are super cute. Making a crown of seasonal flowers from your garden is a great way to celebrate the summertime, or you can use fake flowers from the craft store and keep it year-round! I wrote a tutorial about how to make a flower crown around Litha last year, so check it out if you’re stumped. I wore the heck out of that thing to the Ren faire, believe me.

plan a midsummer dinner

This is my favorite thing to do for any Sabbat because you’ve gotta eat anyway, so it’s really easy and even the non-witch members of your household can enjoy it. Some seasonal foods to incorporate into your dinner are fruits and vegetables (preferably ones you grew yourself!), mead, honey, citrus, strawberries, wine, strawberry wine (it’s okay if you need to take a Deana Carter break), and basically anything else that makes you think of sunshine and summer time.

3 little ways to celebrate litha

have a bonfire

Bonfires are the traditional way to celebrate Litha, and some things never go out of style! It doesn’t have to be a big fire by any means. You can have a little fire in your yard if you have a fire pit, or if not, light candles indoors to channel that fire energy. If you’d like you can use the fire as part of a ritual, either for release or manifestation. Those floating lantern things count as fire, too, although they seem a little dangerous to me so maybe be careful if you release any of those.

And that’s about it! I hope you have an absolutely magical Midsummer ♥ If you’re doing anything fun to celebrate, leave it in the comments – I’d love to hear all about it!